Saturday, February 18, 2017

Here is a stunning documentary about the increasing tension between the United States and China, especially in the South China Sea, developed by journalist, John Pilger. Called the Coming War on China, it was trashed by conservatives because the film is so critical of the United States.

Here's what I learned in the first ten minutes.
As the Chinese expand onto islands in the South Sea China, they see American destroyers and bases surrounding them.

And in 1946, Americans exploded a hydrogen bomb over the Bikini Atoll near the Marshal Islands to see how animals and people react to the blast.

The Memet Ali lesson is part of module five which covers reform and social change in the Mediterranean between 1798-1914.

Another lesson in that module compares the Declaration of Gulhane and the Declaration of the Rights of Man. (The Gulhane Proclamation created the Tanzimat Reforms in the Ottoman Empire)

Module six includes a lesson on the Marshall Plan and Italy. Another 20th century lesson examines the impact of the quest for energy on the environment.

Our Shared Past is a "collaborative grants program." Curriculum developers include Craig Perrier, High School Social Studies Specialist for Fairfax County Public Schools, and Susan Douglas from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Monday, February 6, 2017

MIT has a terrific website called Visualizing Cultures with an image driven curricula about Asia. Their units on Japan and China are great.

For example, we are studying the Meiji Restoration in AP World. MIT has a unit called "Throwing off Asia." It includes a section called Technology and Industry with a series of woodblock prints that shows different aspects of industrialization. I copied some for students to review and note the different ways in which the woodblocks reflect industrialization and modernization.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Here are some very short clips that help explain it.
The first is a basic overview from Khan academy and runs about four minutes.

The second clip explains the three types of kami, or gods. These include ancestors, spirits, and souls of great people, all of whom coexist with us in the natural world.

The third clip explains the importance of the torii gate and the Shinto shrine. And finally, a professor explains the great myth of the Japanese sun god, Amaterasu who is the daughter of Izanami and Izanagi who made their daughter ruler of the sky.